Comment by mlrtime

>It makes a whole lot of sense, otherwise there is a loophole for unlimited stealing as Police/DAs do not want to waste time on misdemeanor theft.

Actually, this was already addressed (n.b., aggregation laws only exist in nine states, see GP's link here[1]) in most places by an increase in the severity of the crime charged for folks being convicted multiple times. cf. Alabama's law[0] as an example:

   Enhanced Penalties for Theft Convictions in Alabama

   Alabama law increases the penalties for habitual (repeat) felony offenders. 
   The length of the enhanced penalty depends on the number of past convictions 
   and the felony offense level for the current offense.

   Second felony. For a second felony conviction, the sentence is raised one 
   level—for instance, a class B felony increases to a class A felony. This 
   penalty increase applies only to current offenses classified as class A, B, 
   or C felonies.

   Third felony. A person with two prior felony offenses faces the following 
   minimum prison terms: 10 years for a class C felony, 15 years for a class B 
   felony, and 99 years for a class A felony.

   Fourth felony. A fourth felony offense results in minimum prison terms of 15 
   years for a class C felony, 20 years for a class B felony, and life for a 
   class A felony.

   Class D felony with prior convictions. When the current offense is a class D 
   felony and the person has two or more class A or B felony convictions or 
   three or more felonies in general, the penalty increases to a Class C felony.

   (Ala. Code § 13A-5-9 (2024).)

Whatever information a "Loss Prevention" team has might be useful to a DA, but unless there's authentication and verified chain of custody of such evidence, the ability to fake such "video surveillance" makes such "evidence" not worth a damn.

[0] https://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/resources/criminal-def...

[1] https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/11/organized-retail-crime-nine-...